Cutting to the Core

Lower Valley needs public transportation

With the price of gasoline edging up higher and higher, it's a shame this area doesn't have a public transportation system. It really needs one.

A bus system would be great. If each city in the Lower Valley worked together to link up its citizens to the bus systems of the Tri-Cities and Yakima, I don't think it would be that expensive.

Let's face it. The towns in the Lower Valley are small and each town would only need one or two buses to service the public. Each town could purchase its own bus or buses and then collectively work together to link up with the other towns.

The towns could apply for grants from the state and federal government. This money could then be used to purchase buses to take Sunnyside residents to Grandview. From Grandview, they could take a bus to Prosser and then hook up with Ben Franklin Transit and go to the Tri-Cities.

The same could be done going in the opposite direction towards Yakima.

This would allow people who don't have cars or know how to drive the opportunity to travel around the city and Lower Valley.

I live about six miles out of town. I'm sure not having a public transportation system has saved me money because my wife can't go shopping when she gets bored, but I'm ready to drop some coin.

What would be better than a bus system? A tram system.

In Amsterdam the cars also share the streets with trams, or small trains. Tracks are laid in the street and the tram uses the current roads to deliver people around the city.

Even if we couldn't get the Lower Valley to hook up with each other we could at least have a decent transportation system in town. Think of all the jobs it would provide if we started laying tracks in some of the major roads in Sunnyside. The tram wouldn't have to cover every area of Sunnyside, people can walk to the various stations that would be laid out around the city.

This all might be a pipe dream because I doubt if some private company is going to come and offer the Lower Valley transportation service. It will be up to the people and the elected city governments.

At the very least the cities could buy old school buses and use them. I'm sure the people wanting the rides wouldn't mind.